Homemade Caramel Apples

Or in our case, hurricane preparation. The weather has been super yucky...days of wind and rain, so to help entertain the kids, and have something yummy to eat, we decided to make our annual caramel apples.  The kids always love doing this!

My 4 y/o was so funny, he meticulously placed individual sprinkles and M&M's on his apple!  While the rest of us rolled ours in pretty much everything available.

We used crushed Whoppers, M&M's, sprinkles, pretzels, and chopped dark chocolate.

And then, of course, even better than decorating the apples...is eating them!

The caramel recipe is SO easy, and has 3 ingredients!  I've posted it before, but figured I would post again with our newest pics!

Caramel Apple Recipe 
from 101 Cookbooks

6 - 8 small apples, unwaxed, cold  

(*I used 4 large Granny Smiths, and have a little caramel leftover)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup honey

Special equipment: candy thermometer, and lollipop sticks

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper/wax paper.
Push a lollipop or popsicle stick deep into each apple (through the stem.)
Fill a large bowl 1/2 full with ice water and set aside.

In a medium, thick-bottomed saucepan heat the cream and salt until tiny bubbles start forming where the milk touches the pan - just before a simmer. Stir in the honey. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to an active simmer and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 15-20 minutes minutes or until the mixture reaches about 255-260F degrees on your candy thermometer. 

To stop the caramel from cooking, carefully set the bottom of the saucepan in the bowl of cold water you prepared earlier - taking special care not to get any of the water in the caramel mixture. Stir until caramel begins to thicken up - you want the caramel to be thin enough that it will easily coat your apples, but not so thin that it will run right off. If the caramel thickens too much simply put the pot back over the burner for 10 seconds or so to heat it up a bit.

 Place each apple on the wax/parchment lined baking sheets and allow the caramel to cool, but get your decorations on before it sets :-)

As far as Hurricane Sandy, we were fortunate where I am in eastern NC. Some localized flooding, but nothing unusual. I hope everyone  is safe wherever you are!

I'm linking up at Holly's Stamping Addiction, The Dedicated House,Homemaker on a Dime, Delightfully Dowling, Skip to my Lou,Making the World Cuter, Moms Crazy Cooking, The Girl Creative, Flour Me with Love, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, My Favorite Finds, Serendipity and Spice, Stone Gable, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Mrs. Happy Homemaker, This Gal Cooks, Finding Joy In My Kitchen